Jayson, Author at Eco Church

From Bronze to Gold in one year – St Helen’s, Isle of Wight receives Eco Church Gold!

A small village church in the rural parish of St Helens has become the first church on the Isle of Wight to receive their Eco Church Gold award and only the tenth church in the whole country – across all denominations – to have achieved this award, out of 2300 registered churches. Although a small rural parish with seemingly limited resources, the St Helens congregation has demonstrated passion and commitment in response to the climate emergency, under the leadership of Revd Ali Morley. A Rocha UK’s Speakers Coordinator, Simon Brown who visited and assessed St Helen’s efforts earlier this month wrote, “I found the church in an idyllic setting with an enthusiastic, friendly team only too happy to engage with the environmental issues of the day, and to come up with some innovative ways of addressing them within the life of the church. [St Helen’s is] a wonderful source of challenge and encouragement to others.‘ Some inspiring activities from the Gold awarded church include: Surveying the flora and fauna of the churchyard over the year led to plans for the construction of a pond, for tree planting (with help from a free pack from the Woodland Trust) and the protection …

First United Reformed Church to achieve Eco Gold Award

Congratulations to St John’s Marsh Green for achieving their Eco Gold Award. St John’s are the first URC church to gain this award and the ninth church to achieve Gold since our Eco Church scheme started back in January 2016. Rob Weston, Convener of the URC’s Environmental Task Group, Minister for Tavistock United Reformed Church and Interim Minister for Lavington United Reformed Church said: “I’m delighted to see the first Gold Eco Church award within the United Reformed Church, it is quite clear that the whole church across the UK is waking up to the need for urgent action. As Convener of the URC’s Environmental Task Group, I believe the Eco Church award scheme offers such a great range of resources and advice that every local URC should be signed up and involved in making a difference. The scheme is suitable for large and small churches, urban and rural, climate change is an issue for us all and every church can make a positive change.” Read about St John’s inspiring achievements including church nature reserve, rainwater tank and ethical banking here: http://www.marshgreenurc.co.uk/communityandworld/eco-introduction.html

‘Our work does not stop here.’ Christ Church Toxteth Park achieve Eco Church Gold.

Congratulations to Christ Church on their Eco Church Gold award!

First Quaker Meeting House to achieve Eco Gold Award

We are thrilled to announce that the seventh Eco Church Gold award goes to Cotteridge Quakers. Importantly, this is the first Quaker meeting to achieve the gold standard. Our Church Relations Manager Helen Stephens says, ‘Quakers have a wonderful ethos of seeking to live simply – and in truth, peace and equality – on this earth. There is much we can learn from them. Eco Church is a way of them measuring and celebrating what they are doing as well as giving them more ideas for next steps. Achieving a Gold award requires a significant commitment including wider community involvement. Cotteridge Quakers have embraced it wholeheartedly.’ A huge congratulations to them! Cotteridge Quakers reduced the carbon footprint of their all-electric building by an inspirational 98% over fifteen years, with its CO2 emissions dropping from 26.4 tons in 2014 to 0.6 tons in 2019. Read more about their achievements here.